Broome Reports 13 Drug Overdose Deaths So Far in 2018

Broome County District Attorney Steve Cornwell is reporting the drug overdose deaths in the county for the first half of 2018 are down by two-thirds from the year before.

Cornwell says 13 people died due to drug overdoses so far this year, compared to 36 deaths in the first half of 2016 and 39 deaths in the first half of last year.

This year, there were no fatal overdoses reported in February in May. Four people died due to overdose in January, five in March, one in April and 3 in June.

The report breaks down the incidents showing he majority occurred in the City of Binghamton with nine, three in the Town of Union and one in the Town of Chenango. 10 of those were males and three females.

The average age of Broome County residents succumbing to a fatal dosage of a substance was 39 and that substance could be heroin or opioids or other drugs. Ten of the thirteen deaths for the beginning half of the year have been attributed to heroin and opiods.

Cornwell says Overdose Death Investigator Jeffrey Wagner reviewed death certificates, police reports and toxicology reports as well as talking to addicts and family members.

The D.A. says lower numbers are encouraging, but the work is “far from over” with even one death too many.